How to lose weight fast

The advent of the internet, cell phones and email has helped to create a global sense of urgency that is hard to ignore. This frantic need to have everything, and have it now, is not limited to just our communication and information needs. From drive through dry cleaners, instant tax refunds and express grocery lines, the need to finish all daily tasks in a matter of minutes is now considered a normal request. But what about health issues? There is no overnight cure for the common cold, for a broken arm or for cancer; it would be unhealthy if there were. So, why are we so focused on learning how to lose weight fast? Is there a way to do this healthily? There actually is a method to losing weight steadily and quickly that is healthy. Ironically, it is also old-fashioned.

Losing weight quickly is possible, but advisable only if it is a couple pounds a week. Any course that advertises weight loss of anything more than that over the span of a week is simply not healthy. In addition, it can also be harmful to your overall health and well-being. Ultimately, it is only advisable to lose weight quickly in a healthy way, with safe diet programs, coupled with daily exercises (that’s right, there is no getting out of exercising!).

There’re many diet programs and weight loss products designed for quick weight loss. South Beach Diet, for example, has been claimed to help dieters lose weight fast and is organized to include three stages. The first stage takes about 14 days. In this stage, you are not permitted to eat foods high in glucose like donuts, pretzels, mashed potatoes, ice cream, instant rice or sports drinks. The effect is that you will soon start to lose fat because you will lose resistance to insulin. During those 14 days, up to 10 pounds can be lost. In the second stage, you can gradually add those food items that were restricted to your meals. The period of time differs from one person to another, however this stage continues until you achieve your desired weight. Stage three is meant to be followed for life. In this stage, you simply maintain your decreased weight. You can add three grain and three fruit portions to the list of dishes you eat per day. It is possible to lose weight quickly in a healthy fashion with South Beach Diet. The Microbiotic Diet is very popular with vegetarians because it is high in fiber and low in fat. This diet constrains meat, sugar and milk products. It includes green leafy vegetables comprising of roughages, beans, two bowls of miso or shoyu soup, brown rice, whole grains and soya products.

With the aid of these diets and daily exercise, your goal of losing weight quickly and in a healthy manner can be accomplished. There are a lot of reasons that one may desire to lose body fat. At the top of the list is to look good and to improve one’s health. Weight loss should be viewed as a long-term undertaking. Fast weight loss programs can help you to lose weight, but will not provide you with the long-term outcome you desire.

In any diet, fat will be lost when the caloric consumption is lower than the energy output. Yet, ‘crash’ and low-energy diets will end in loss of muscle in addition to the burned fat. Two pounds in a week is the estimated maximum fat that a human body can burn, so this means that any loss of weight over two pounds will be water and muscle.

In addition, your metabolism slows down with ‘crash’ diets. If you do not eat adequate food, your survival instincts will gain control and your body will go into ’starvation status’. In this status, the metabolic rate slows down to preserve energy and therefore, the rate of weight loss is decreased. Hence, in the end, very little fat is burned using the crash system. Crash diets have the dual effect of decreasing calorie burning muscle tissue and metabolic weight-burning capabilities. A slow decrease in calories keeps muscle tissue, burns fat and allows you to maintain a healthy weight in the future.

The tried and true method to weight loss, you know - the one that combines exercise with a calorie restrictive diet - is the fastest, healthiest and most successful way to lose weight fast. When faced with pills, shakes and bars promising almost overnight weight loss success, wishful thinking often gets the best of us. We reach for the biggest bottle with the boldest print and swallow the pills knowing, somewhere in the back of our mind, that this is not the answer. Sure enough, we either don’t lose weight at all or we do, but feel sick, shaky and tired and then quickly gain the weight back.

So, where does one start when embracing old-fashioned methods? Let’s start by eating the way the food pyramid recommends. The food pyramid is supported by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and gives a basic road map to healthy eating. When using the pyramid, start at the bottom; symbolizing the largest part of our diet is the bread, cereal, rice and pasta group. The pyramid recommends 6 to 11 servings a day from this group. It is important to make sure that you choose the right kinds of foods from this group, or you will not lose weight. Choose whole grain breads, cereals, rice and pasta to ensure that your body does not see the food as a simple sugar. Also, be sure there is a high amount of fiber in each of the items you eat.

Slightly higher on the pyramid are two entries- vegetables with 3-5 servings and fruit with 2-4 servings. When choosing vegetables for your 3-5 servings, be sure to choose a wide variety of colors. Choose no more than 2 starch servings per day (potatoes and corn are examples of a starch) since these are higher in calories. When choosing your fruit servings, citrus fruits generally have fewer calories. Fruits like grapes are higher in calories and sugar and should be eaten in moderation.

The next row on the pyramid consists of 2-3 servings of milk, yogurt and cheese as well as 2-3 servings of meat fish, nuts and beans. Be sure to choose low fat options in each of these categories. When learning how to lose weight quickly, it is important that you learn how much food is in 1 serving. For this part of the food pyramid that is especially true since large servings of dairy products and nuts can sabotage your weight loss attempts.

When it comes to exercise, aerobic exercise for 30 minutes a day will help the pounds slide off quickly. Adding another 30 minutes of weight training will help you build muscle which will increase your resting metabolism and help you lose weight when you aren’t even trying.